Syracuse, N.Y. -- With all the effort the Syracuse coaching staff has put in to speeding up the Orange offense, syracuse.com will be keeping tabs on pace of play each game.

Offensive coordinator George McDonald is shooting for 80-plus plays per game. To do that, the Orange will need to improve upon its average time between snaps of 24.8 seconds last season.

So let's move to Villanova. It's important to note that Terrel Hunt's ejection likely slowed down the offense. Also, the game clock goes off for overtime so official statistics for time of possession, and thus pace of play, are not kept.

First, here's a look at the drive chart:

Pace breakdown from Syracuse's drives vs. Villanova

Quarter

Plays

Yards

Duration

Result

Pace (seconds per play)

1st

6

96

2:32

Touchdown

25.3

1st

3

-7

1:26

Punt

28.7

2nd

14

48

3:28

Field goal

14.9

2nd

8

44

4:33

Punt

34.1

3rd

13

83

4:56

Touchdown

22.8

3rd

6

7

2:43

Punt

27.2

3rd

3

17

1:12

Punt

24

4th

3

-5

1:22

Punt

27.3

OT

7

20

N/A

Field goal

N/A

OT

7

25

N/A

Touchdown

N/A

Now, the overall numbers:

Total plays in regulation: 56

Total time of possession: 22:12

Pace: 23.8 seconds per play

Source: Cuse.com

Quick analysis

Syracuse only had a few chances to gain a rhythm in its no-huddle offense even with Hunt on the field. The lack of a consistent running game likely played as much of a factor with this as Hunt's ejection. During that third drive in which SU averaged 14.9 seconds per play, the Orange relied on the intermediate passing games to move the chains (each time pausing the clock). A handful of incompletions also contributed to that outlier in the data.

The Orange was never going to hit McDonald's goal after Villanova dominated possession in the early going. About five minutes into the second half, the time of possession disparity was VU 15:45, SU 3:58.